FTC Volunteer Resources

Face the Challenge Team Member Personality Indicator

Disclaimer:
FTC reserves the right to make all its team member selections, preferring those who are skilled, demonstrate mature behavior, willing to support our mission statement, and respect the designated leader's authority during the official dates of the surgical mission. If such prospective members are unwilling to agree to these terms, FTC recommends that they seek involvement in a surgical mission elsewhere. FTC appreciates your understanding related to this matter.

In no way are the Board members, Executive Director, Assistant Executive Director, or surgical team leaders experts in identifying or interpreting personality types of those volunteers who go on FACE the Challenge trips. If you personally would like to explore more of your own personality traits, we suggest that you seek local psychologists or others trained with such expertise.

One indicator was designed by Isabell Briggs Myers, Katharine C. Briggs, and Jean M. Kummerow, PhD (1987) at the Center for Applications of Psychological Type, Gainesville, FL. In their tool they, in part, attempt to differentiate:

• Extroversion (E) (energized by outer world) vs. Introversion (I) (energized by inner world)
• Sensing (S) (work with known facts) vs. Intuition (N) (look for possibilities & relationships)
• Thinking (T) (base decisions on impersonal analysis & logic) vs. Feeling (F) (base decisions on personal values)
• Judgment (J) (prefer a planned, decided, orderly way of life) vs. Perception (P) (prefer a flexible, spontaneous way of life)

Without employing all the steps normally required by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for professional interpretation, FTC simply desires a guide on how team members may assess both their "self-assessment" and "work situations" types. (Sometimes they vary in different settings.)

FTC would like a general idea from the prospective team members as they rate themselves on a left-to-right sliding scale, ranging from, e.g. Extroversion on the left to Introversion on the right, with ratings of very clear, clear, moderate, slight (then midway), followed by slight, moderate, clear, very clear to Introversion on the right. Some will recognize that their personality types "stay to the left", some on "the right", and some will be mixed in between.

According to Myers-Briggs:

Extroverts (Breadth of interest)

• Like a variety and action
• Tend to be faster, dislike complicated procedures
• Are often good at greeting people
• Are often impatient with long slow jobs
• Like to have people around
• Usually communicate freely

Whereas, Introverts (Depth of concentration)

• Like quiet for concentration
• Tend to be careful with detail, dislike sweeping statements
• Have trouble remembering names and faces
• Tend not to mind working on one project for a long time
• Work contentedly alone
• Have some problems communicating

Next, from Myers-Briggs:

Sensing (S) Types (Reliance on facts)

• Dislike new problems unless there are standard ways to solve them
• Like an established way of doing things
• Enjoy using skills already learned more than learning new ones
• Usually reach a conclusion step by step
• Seldom make errors of fact
• Tend to be good at precise work

Whereas, Intuitive (N) Types (Grasp of possibilities)

• Like solving new problems
• Dislike doing the same thing repeatedly
• Enjoy learning a new skill more than using it
• Work in bursts of energy powered by enthusiasm, with slack periods in between
• Frequently make errors of fact
• Dislike taking time for precision

Further, from Myers-Briggs:

Thinking (T) Types (Logic and analysis)

• Do not show emotion readily and are often uncomfortable dealing with people's feelings
• May hurt people's feelings without knowing it
• Like analysis and putting things into logical order. Can get along without harmony
• Tend to decide impersonally, sometimes paying insufficient attention to people's wishes
• Are more analytically oriented--respond more easily to people's thoughts
• Tend to be firm-minded

Whereas, Feeling (F) Types (Warmth and sympathy)

• Tend to be very aware of other people and their feelings
• Enjoy pleasing people, even in unimportant things
• Like harmony. Efficiency may be badly disturbed by office feuds
• Often let decision be influenced by their own or other people's personal likes and dislikes
• Are more people oriented--respond more easily to people's values
• Tend to be sympathetic

And finally, Myers-Briggs asserts:

Judging (J) Types (Organization)

• Work best when they can plan their work and follow the plan
• Like to get things settled and finished
• May decide things too quickly
• May dislike to interrupt the project they are on for a more urgent one
• Want only the essentials needed to begin their work
• Tend to be satisfied once they reach a judgment on a thing, situation, or person

Whereas, Perceptive (P) Types (Adaptability)

• Adapt well to changing situations
• Do not mind leaving things open for alterations
• May have trouble making decisions
• May start too many projects and have difficulty in finishing them
• Want to know all about a new job
• Tend to be curious and welcome new light on a thing, situation, or person

To recap:

• Extroversion (E) (energized by outer world) vs. Introversion (I) (energized by inner world)
• Sensing (S) (work with known facts) vs. Intuition (N) (look for possibilities & relationships)
• Thinking (T) (base decisions on impersonal analysis & logic) vs. Feeling (F) (base decisions on personal values)
• Judgment (J) (prefer a planned, decided, orderly way of life) vs. Perception (P) (prefer flexibility & spontaneity)

After prospective team members have considered the above traits, we ask they share with FTC their personality work-style tendencies as follows (16 options):

The MBTI suggests that the following temperaments may, therefore, need to work on the following in their work settings (and while participating on an FTC surgical mission):

Again, FTC emphasizes the above information about personality types is only a guide. The best people to interpret such information are mental health specialists. But, as a means to anticipate potential team dynamics, success and pitfalls, etc. in a stressful, work-related environment, we feel it is important that prospective team members help FTC team planners "know them" better in advance. FTC recommends that if anyone is currently: struggling with emotional problems,significant loss, active (or recovering from) drug, alcohol, and /or substance abuse, etc. that you kindly refrain from applying to be a team member for a period of time until there is some resolution of the problems and a less than reasonable risk of further struggles or relapse.